As I sit in the Kent, CT public library I once again realize how long it has been since I have put a post on this blog. Although I do not have the time right now to do justice to even a single day of the last month plus on the trail I am going to write something, and dammit you are going to read it. Thats right you who is wondering what the heck we have been doing. This post will be fragmented, contain poor grammar, and be 100% stream of conscious. There is plenty to tell so here we go.

Harper’s Ferry, WV marked mile 1009 of the A.T. from the starting point of Springer Mt. GA. I now sit in Kent, CT as I said which is mile marker 1453. That is just shy of 450 miles. I chewed up and regurgitated the states of West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania,  New Jersey, and New York since the time of the last post. Connecticut marks the 5th state from the end with just Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to go. CT and Mass are both short states and we plan to be in VT by next friday (9 days or s0).

WV was really short 7 miles or so. Maryland was full of interesting civil war facts. As you hike the trail you came up on historic battlefields and towns where there were placards and such. It was also a short state less than 40 miles. Maryland did however boast the only free and public shower directly on the trail. A shower is always nice, free showers are better.

Pennsylvania has much more of a story to tell about it. The previous 2 states and 4 days of hiking were woodsy and pretty but Penn is where the fun really began again. Crossing into Penn at PenMar park we found our selves ready for a resupply so into Waynesboro, PA for the day. Newly rekindled hiker hunger was met with a furry from hands down the best Chinese buffet I have ever seen. After shopping it was of course time to try and find a beer. After learning that in PA one cannot purchase a beer, or a 6 pack that one must buy an entire case (this makes no sense to me) we decided to just head to a bar. Slow dirty bar lead to the bar on the other side of town where it happened to be karaoke night. Some amount of beer later and 4 songs sung by yours truly with help on 3 by Machete, and one by Patch and Pemmy. We found ourselves getting a 3am ride back to the trail with the bartender, a very sweet lady. Yes our celebration of Patch joining on the trail was complete.

A day or two later we ran into the best trail magic yet to that time. Right before Caledonia state park hikers were greeted with a cooler with drinks and snacks. In addition to that was a map into the state park where showers, dinner, a place to tent and more were proposed. After a rainy and soggy day you’d have to be a fool to turn this down. We made our trek through the park which turned into at least a mile walk and were greated by Cook Doctor and the other 4 members of his ensemble. This group led by Cook Doctor was an outreach program from a church in Indiana believe it or not. Cook was in his 7th year of doing this and it was quite amazing. They rented 3 sites at the park and brought a U-Haul full of food and supplies. We ate and shared stories that night, had breakfast the next day and got to lounge and then Cook slacked packed us 11 miles so we could get some hiking in and come back that night for another amazing dinner. Through in some showers and some good company and this was quite the experience. The following morning Cook drove us to resume the trail to where we had slacked the day prior. This was probably my favorite moment of being with cook. After leaving the park we were stopped by construction. Cook had a serious Jones for Tom Jones so we all decided to crank up the song “It’s Not Unusual” and perform it for the girl holding the stop sign to try and sway her into getting traffic going. Needless to say 8 idiots singing Tom Jones and clapping with vigor got the job done. Back to the trail.

Pine Grove furnace State Park is the half way point on the A.T. Hikers being the idiots they are perform a little ritual at the store there called the half gallon challenge. This entails eating an entire half gallon of ice cream. Yes, ice cream lovers out there it sounds easy on the surface but it is more difficult than one would imagine. I would like to acknowledge myself, Patch, Machete, and Pemmy as all new inductees to the half gallon club. Thank you have have bowed. I finished in an above average time of 24 minutes and proceeded to get up and do cartwheels to prove my superior stomach. Patch and Pemmy took about an hour and half. and Machete surprisingly finished in an hour for not being much of a competitive eater. More trail culture down and more hiking to go.

Pemmy did not feel well the following day so we all followed her to the hospital in Carlisle, PA where so saw a doctor. Patch and I zeroed with her for 2 days and Machete stayed to keep her company and after there third zero they met back up with us in Boiling Springs, PA. Boiling Springs is not a very hiker friendly town so we had our pizza and went to sleep in our woods. The other restaurant there declared that it had a sleeve policy and would not let Machete in so we decided not to patron them. The following day hiking out was gorgeous and easy terrain. Big miles all around. Patch and myself decided to pull short of Duncannon, PA by doing a 23 but Machete and Pemmy being the bolts of lightning that they are decided to pull the 27 and go straight into town. This proved unfortunate as Pemmy hurt herself on the rocks and twisted the ankle she had surgery on in October.

Patch and myself met with our other half in Duncannon the following day at the AMAZING establishment called the Doyle Hotel. Not only is this a cheap ass dirty hotel but it has a bar inside of it. I’m not talking yuppie bar in a Holiday Inn, I’m talking blue collar dive bar. Some how Patch and myself did not get sucked in the hole known as the Doyle and hiked out the next day into some serious rain. Pemmy and Machete had an extended stay and later met us again after Pemmy’s ankle was feeling better.

Alas, I have gone into too much detail about the previous events and have 5 minutes before the library closes. Lets see what I can spew.

I have seen 4 rattlesnakes and 1 copperhead. The first rattlesnake I saw I screamed like a 5 year old girl. The one I saw today I gave the death stare too. I have conquered the snake… almost.

We’ve got a new hiker buddy that we have been traveling with together since Deleware Water Gap. His name is Mosey and just began the trail in Duncannon. He hails from Anvil, PA and is a very cool dude. You should all dream of meeting him one day.

Pennsylvania is a VERY rocky state. It is very hard on the feet and wears your tread out VERY quickly. :(

One day on the trail I swore it was like the Lord of the Rings. There were streams running bright orange and yellow due to mineral deposits and crazy bridges etc. It was one of those had to be there moments but very cool. My favorite was the orange stream that dyed my shoes.

Our friend Johnny who lives in Philly came and hiked 26 miles with us. He did it like a champ. It was good to get to hang out with him in the woods. Especially at camp the first night and at the rope swing by this sweet green pond in the middle of the woods.

We went to the oldest running Jazz Club in the nation in Deleware Water Gap called the Deer Head Inn and saw 2 nights of AWESOME jazz. There was a Saxaphone camp going on and it was basically open mic. Very cool.

Until we meet again.